The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 50

 

Episode 50: The Master's Intention

 They are using this war to eradicate the growing rootless nobles to some extent. The moment I thought that, I felt a chill run down my spine.

"Everything is going according to plan. The imperial army ambushed us, blocked our escape, and many of us died"

 Everyone here is stunned by the truth that was hidden in this war, as told by the head of the Fregrance family.

 The most surprising of all is a piece of paper handed to me by the head of the Fregrance family. And from the words "kill list" written on it, the following names were almost all of the rootless nobles who were serving in this expedition to the Imperial capital, not to mention the Bajirians who had tried to force me to join the rear unit.

"And with their sacrifice, our kingdom and the empire are to conclude a pact."

 The point is that both sides have spilled a lot of blood in this war and it's too hard to continue.

 Certainly, from the kingdom's point of view, it is almost impossible to continue the war if so many nobles have been killed in the war. But

"What are the chances that the empire will revoke its promises and invade? This is just a one-sided loss for us, and in the first place, it is not only the nobles who died but also the soldiers and knights who follow them. In terms of national power, it is definitely not a good idea."

 Almost everyone present nodded their heads in agreement with Elfie's question.

"There is no problem on that point. The Empire has already paid the price."

 At the master's words, Elfie tilted her head and waited for his next words, wondering what he meant.　

 Meanwhile, I came up with one thing.

"......Repeated reckless assaults. And then the lack of resistance, or something?"

"What do you mean?"

 Lady Ritia, standing next to me, looks anxious, tugging at the sleeve of my clothes, but still tries to keep up with the conversation.

"To sum it up, I think the Empire is at its limits."

"Limit?"

"......"

 Lady Ritia tilts her head cutely in response to my answer, and the master, the parent, simply nods silently and waits for me to continue.

"Well, the first thing I learned from the battle with the imperial army is that the number of people on the imperial side who were killed or wounded today alone is estimated to be in the thousands."

"That's because you did your best......"

"Well, that's one thing, but if Ojousama is the commander in the imperial army attacking here, would you hit us with your army over and over again, with our stout defenses?"

"Yes."

 I thought I had told her that normally she wouldn't do that, and I was about to say "idiot" when she unexpectedly answered "yes".

 Well, I guess that's because the young lady's world who lives mainly in noble society, and me, a man who places emphasis on war, if not a constant battle, are literally different, but I don't think it's too much to ask, right?

"N-no! There are so many of them, I thought if they rotated and took turns fighting, they would make an opening......"

"Ah, yeah...... sure, you may have a point with that idea. But realistically speaking, they don't have that option from the start."

 As I said that, Croche Rask, who was also a member of the frontline team, who was listening to the conversation, raised his voice.

"If their allies are behind us, there is no need to force their attack. The strategy that Fregrance Ojousama mentioned is only for when both sides have exhausted their forces and are going to hit each other head-on."

"Well, to put it simply, attacking hard enough while your allies are also attacking from behind, it's clearly an overkill."

 In the first place, if thousands are killed or wounded due to an army of 10,000, their army cannot sustain itself, or rather, the decision to retreat is going to be made.

 And to return to the original point, the cost to the imperial side would be these casualties in the thousands. It would be difficult for them to go deep into the kingdom's territory when they had been beaten up to this point.

 In addition, although we, the Kingdom Army, are in a tight spot due to the night raid, we have had the Imperial territory under our control since we crossed the border.

 They need a certain amount of troops to take it back and maintain it, and considering that, I don't think they can attack and destroy the kingdom side at once.

"Repeated reckless assaults and lack of resistance. Is this the price the imperial side is paying for the deal made behind the scenes?"

 I looked at the head of the Fregrance family for confirmation, and he nodded his head, as though the general idea was correct.

"Did His Majesty intend to kill Prince Lim here?"

 The next head of the Croche family muttered a few words, to which the master stroked his white beard and denied it.

"......The list is designed to overlook those whose names are not on the list. They have the information of his highness and the nobles who owned a land in advance. This is it."

"Let me see it."

 A kill list and a miss list. The two pieces of paper contain detailed descriptions of names and appearances, etc. Apparently, even though some on the list had already been killed, there is someone on the imperial side who knows the true meaning of this war and is in command. In fact, the names on the two papers are addressed to Lieutenant General Rojisko Irishia, which is the name of the commander on the imperial side.

 In summary, the rootless nobles will all die here, but the prince, the head of the Fregrance family, and several landowning nobles, including the Croche family, are expected to be let off the hook.

 However, some points are worrisome or important to me are missing.

"......I can't see young master's name on the list?"

 Yes. The names of all the members of my family, including myself, Elfie, and Armes, are missing. Moreover, not even Lady Ritia's name is there.

"You were originally not supposed to participate. But because of the trouble you caused in Royal Capital, you are forced to join."

 With a sullen expression on his face, the head of the family explains why my name is not on the list. Apparently, my non-participation had been decided when the army was being formed, but just after that, the prince told him to allow me to join in order to get back at me.

 When he tried to refuse, for some reason, the king insisted, and the master was reluctant to allow me to participate. Come to think of it, the reason why the master came all the way to my parents' house to visit me before my departure and was so angry at me for doing something unnecessary may have been because of this.

"Then, how do you plan to guarantee the young master's safety?"

"I was going to give him this and then leave him in charge of the unit."

 The third piece of paper was given to me by the master. It was addressed to the same person as the two lists, and along with the names of my family members, the treatment was also written in the name of the head of the Fregrance family.

"Take it and surrender. If you do so, you will be treated as prisoners of war, but if you have this, you will not be treated so badly."

 Even the rear unit is done in the way the kingdom has planned. They are trying to save our lives by putting us in that group.

"Abandon the country, is that what you are trying to say? But, Danna-sama......"

"We'll talk about it when I get home."

 Even Elfie's attention is drawn, as one would expect from the unexpected after-the-fact report.

 But I don't understand it. I mean, there was no reason to simply hand me over to the enemy, even if I was the stallion of the main family, and there are no other candidates besides me, which is why the master had no intention of letting me join this expedition to the Imperial capital.

 In other words, the master is lying about something.

 In general, this surrender plan could be taken as handing me over to the imperial side. In the first place, there is no need for me to surrender, as long as I can quickly hand over the list to the enemy commander.

 And above all......

"Why is your daughter's name not on the list?"

 The point is that Lady Ritia's name, who is even more important to the master than I am, is nowhere to be found on the three sheets of paper that were handed to me.

"Ah, it's true."

 The young lady let it slide rather easily even though it's about herself. I'm not sure about that reaction, but the master is different. At all costs, we must add Lady Ritia's name to the list.

"There's still something you're not telling us, right?"

“…………”

 When I questioned him, he just quietly stroked his white beard and did not open his mouth, which was hidden behind it.

"What are you hiding?"

 The young lady standing beside me asks while tugging on my sleeve. No, it's not me who's hiding it.

"The fact that Ojousama's isn't on the list means that there is essentially no reason for her to be here. And yet she is accompanying me."

"Idiot, that's..."

 The young lady is red up to the back of her ears. Apparently, it was embarrassing for her to say that the reason she is accompanying me was to have sex with me.

 But if such a dangerous operation was taking place, it would have been right not to bring her along.

"......Is Ojousama going to be a hostage until the operation is completed?"

"Eh?"

 At my muttering, the young lady turns her attention from me to her own father, the head of the main family. The master, however, remains motionless, still silent. Is he not going to give me an answer until he hears my thoughts?

"What do you mean?"

 Instead of the master, the next head of the Croche family, Croche Rask, responded. A vertical line is carved between his eyebrows, and a hint of confusion can be seen behind his eagle-sharp eyes.

"Perhaps His Majesty instructed you to take Ojousama with you so that you would not betray him."

"...I understand that she's a hostage until the operation is completed. But that doesn't make sense for a hostage to be here now. If the hostage accompany us and escaped with us, that would be the end."

"Normally, yes, but as far as the current state of the kingdom is concerned, they don't mind if they run away, you know?"

"What?"

 The next head of the Croche family is surprised, but from the perspective of the current kingdom, even if the head of the Fregrance family and his daughter defected to the empire, the kingdom would still get the entire Fregrance Territory, which is now without a ruler.

 To begin with, this war itself was caused by the impoverishment of the treasury, and if the entire territory of the Fregrance family were placed under the direct control of the kingdom, this problem could be solved to some extent. Even if they revolt before our departure because they do not want to become a hostage, as long as there is contact with the empire, they can contact each other and destroy them from the east and west sides.

"But from what I've heard, the head of Fregrance must have been trusted by His Majesty, right?"

"I think the reason is just in case things go wrong. And you're talking about trust but not assurance. In addition......."

"In addition?"

"He despised himself for not being a wise king, but the flip side is that he doesn't think he's a foolish king. In other words, the current king has a belief that he is different and has high self-respect. It is the same with the kings of the past. They, too, think that the way their predecessors ruled is a bad legacy, and they are doing what they think is best at the time."

 That's why he wanted assurance. There is a saying in a faraway land, "Once you have eaten a poison, eat also the plate" but the king is not prepared to eat the poison.

 If we are going to great lengths to dispose of the rootless nobles, I would believe in you! If you are not prepared to do so, you can't complain if you are unexpectedly torn from the side.

"......Well, I guess that self-preserving thinking worked out positively for the kingdom side this time."

"What do you mean by that?"

 Only the young lady next to me was able to catch my words as I mumbled.

 Her jade green eyes shook with anxiety, her hand gripping the sleeve of my clothes slightly tightened.

 I squeezed her hand back.

 A little cold, sweaty, small, and unreliable, I squeezed her hand to let her know that it was okay and that I would never put her in danger.

"I'm going to be direct. Did you intend to secretly kill Prince Lim in this war?"

 For the umpteenth time already, a buzz breaks out.

"Why do you think so"

 The only one who is not astonished like the crowd, the master, who asks the question with a resentful expression on his face.

"First of all, this list. How can General Be'mond's name be on this list and yet he was killed by the Empire?"

 The miss list that was presented by the master. On the paper, General Be'mond's name is properly written.

 In other words, he is a man who should not have died in this war. And yet, his death is known to at least everyone here.

"Does that mean the Empire isn't going to let us off the hook after all?"

"No, I think it's different, perhaps General Be'mond's death was unexpected on both sides."

"What do you mean?"

"The general was killed because he used his body as a shield to protect His Highness from the blade during the night attack, right?"

"Ah, yeah."

"In other words, it was completely unexpected."

 When I mentioned that fact to the next head of the Croche family, who interrupted me, he, too, closed his mouth in unison. However, he quickly reconsidered and said.

"Wait a minute. There were only two people in the room, his highness, and the general. Then why would the enemy attack? The assumption was that they were to be overlooked in the first place, right?"

"That is, if the two are really on the miss list."

 In response to my answer, Armes now modestly raises her hand.

"A-are you saying that Prince Lim was on the enemy's kill list?"

"I suppose so."

"But that only makes sense if the enemy's goal is Prince Lim. But wouldn't it be the other way around?"

"?"

"What if the head of the main family is not after the prince, but General Be'mond? It is possible, he wants to reduce the power of the Be'monds, one of the five great nobles?"

 She says that the head of the main family, not the prince, is after General Be'mond, and that His Highness is the bait for that, but I shake my head quietly.

"That's not true. If the Be'monds, who was a landowning noble, are weakened, it is the Fregrances who will suffer."

"You mean?"

"The Baminghams, the leading rootless faction, and the Brigittes, who have made a fortune dealing with the Federation and use their money to exert a strong influence over the rootless nobility. The Fragrance family alone would have a tough time dealing with both of them, wouldn't it?"

"In other words, the Fregrances who are in trouble if the Be'monds go out of business?"

"Yes. So, by no mistake, the master is not aiming at the General."

 Mostly, I add.

"From the exchange between Ojousama and the daughter of the Brigitte family, it is the Brigitte family that the Fragrances truly view as the enemy. The two families are more like dogs and cats than rivals, water and oil. And who was the daughter of the Brigittes going to marry?"

"……I see."

 Elfie understood it a step ahead of the others. As the one who has seen the world the longest and has seen firsthand the bloody exchanges between nobles, she must have been able to recognize it.

"As the head of the Fregrance family...... he cannot overlook the idea of the daughter of a family he considers an enemy settling down by the side of the prince who will be the next king of the kingdom. Is that why?"

"Correct."

 And from what I heard earlier, it seems that the plan to marry off the young lady's sister has fallen through, and in that case, the head of the family probably wanted to kill the prince here in order to turn the situation upside down from the very foundation.

"So he wanted to kill the prince in this war. But that plan was foiled by General Be'mond, who probably knew nothing about it...... right?"

 Speculation, but to me, this is the answer. Since he was the only one other than the king who was involved in the expeditionary force to the imperial capital, it was easy for him to incorporate a plan to dispose of people who might be disadvantageous to him.

 Furthermore, the reason why he wanted me to take charge of the rear unit is probably because the plan to eliminate the prince has been foiled.

"Good job."

 Perhaps satisfied with the answer I had given him, his expression, which had been frozen for a long time, collapsed, and a dark smile appeared on his mouth, which had been hidden by the white beard.

"Then you know what you must do without me telling you, right?"

"......The surrender is only a facade. We are to abandon the rear unit and let his highness be killed by the enemy."

"That's right."

 If I, the leader, surrender easily, the rootless nobles on the list and the prince would be eliminated in this war as the master wanted.

 ...I have to say, isn't this already a coup d'etat for the house of Fregrance in the kingdom.

 I don't think the kingdom itself would hold up if the prince was killed and the Fregrance family retained their position, and with one more step, he would.......

 And, well, let's put aside for a moment the kingdom that is dying from its own poison and all the other things that are going on. I feel that everyone here is being forced to choose between the kingdom and the Fragrance family, putting aside how to escape from the empire and the plan to eradicate the rootless nobles.

"Why, dad!"

 But in the midst of all this, the only one who raised her voice was Lady Ritia.

"Why, why did you take part in such a scheme? I understand that these rootless people are a burden to the country and to us! But they are also nobles who serve the kingdom, and we, the Five Noble Families, must protect them!"

 The young lady, who was supposed to be next to me but before I knew it, rushed to the master and asked him that face to face.

"You should have admonished His Majesty to cancel the plan. You should have done at least that! Moreover, if it becomes known that we have killed His Highness in the midst of all this, our house of Fregrance will be slandered as traitors for our children and grandchildren to come!"

 Lady Ritia, the daughter of the Fregrance family, who is more proud of her nobility than anyone else, and is known as the "sword of the kingdom," denounces the head of the house with her arguments.

 It is also the role of loyal subjects to stop their lord's mistakes with their own lives. I could see her slender hands clenched so tightly that they turned white.

"I had no choice!!"

 But her righteousness was drowned out by the fact that the master was the first to raise his voice.

"I've given my all to the kingdom, and I've accepted this plan, even if it means tarnishing the family name! But what about the reality!"

 The master turned his bloodshot eyes on his beloved daughter, Lady Ritia.

"They took you hostage! Even the house was taken hostage! I have been cut off by His Majesty!"

 The master cries out in grief. It seems that not only the young lady is being held hostage until the completion of the plan, but the main family is also being held hostage in some way by the kingdom.

 His Majesty, the current king, who is self-proclaimed better than the previous foolish kings, did not even trust the head of the Fregrance family. Probably, he is the type of person who does unnecessary things and loses money because of his strange wits. I've never met him, so I don't know.

"Still, Dad!!"

"Alright, stop!"

 I put my hand on the shoulder of the young lady who was still trying to get close to the master. I had to stop her because there was a possibility that the relationship between father and daughter would go beyond the parent-child relationship and split up between the kingdom side and the main family side. Worst of all, I felt that the situation might go in the direction of a disgusting development, such as asking her to just give him her baby, so I forcefully removed the young lady from the master.

"What! Are you the same as dad!?"

 She stared at me as if I'm on the master's side because I forced them to stop, but I'm me, so don't worry. So please don't step on my toes relentlessly. It's hurting me.

"I think you're probably right about everything you're saying, Ojousama."

"T-that's right So don't stop me......"

"But the master has his own circumstances. You see, it's called adult talk."

 It was common when I was a child, when my parents were whispering to each other in private, I would ask, "What's up?", and they would say, "It's an adult talk, so you shouldn't interrupt us". This time is similar to that.

 The contents of the secret talks between the kingdom and the Fregrance family, the five great noble families in the country, is not a topic that a low rank like us should be interjecting into.

 I think that is a person who should be corrected and at the same time, it is a line that a family member, the young lady, should not cross with the head of the family.

 So I'll take the role of crossing that line.

"...Well, after listening to all the details, I understood the master's thoughts and position. You have no choice but to do so."

"Then you'll do it, right?"

 The master asks the question, angry and his breath coming out roughly.

"I accept. I will abandon my country, I will even abandon my house. But there's one thing I really don't like."

"……What?"

"Bringing your daughter into such a dangerous battlefield for such a reason, I don't like it."

 I told him clearly.

 The young lady Ritia has had to have procreational sex with someone she didn't even know like me because he wanted an heir, and on top of that, she was held hostage to die if it came to it.

 Because she is the daughter of a great noble, because that is her role, because she was born as Ritia Fregrance...... The reason for this is that it is unreasonable for her to be subjected to this treatment, and the fact that the head of the family, who should have the power to protect her from this unreasonableness, is so pathetic. I don't like it all.

"......That's the fate of nobility."

 The head of the family mutters as if to throw up. That is the fate she was born with, Lady Ritia Fregrance.

"Yes, I suppose it is."

 I didn't deny it.

 The Master, Lady Ritia, Myself, Armes, Elfie, and the next head of the Croche family.

 All of us are living with some kind of destiny. I don't deny that.

"......I'll turn it all upside down from here."

 However, there is no reason why it should be lumped together as fate by other people, even family members, without the individual deciding for himself or herself.

 The fate of the young lady is decided by the young lady herself. I will not let her be used and crushed as a pawn in the schemes of these two foolish old men!

"We'll stop the enemy at the rear, and we'll overthrow this joke of an operation from the ground up!"

 I will protect her in a way that can only be negative for both parties.